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Terry Moore, creator of the critically-acclaimed, self-published Strangers in Paradise, filled us in on his post-Strangers in Paradise activities, and the difference between working for himself as an independent creator as opposed to working for a large company like Marvel.

Moore is currently working on his new self-published book, Echo, about a girl who inadvertently discovers a high-tech battle suit. Additionally, he has a one year contract with Marvel, for twelve issues each of Spider Man Loves Mary Jane, and Runaways, after Joss Whedon’s run on the title.

Moore says that one of the reasons he wanted to work with Marvel, after so many years going it alone, was

“to learn how to be a professional writer, instead of a guy who doesn’t really know what he’s doing… essentially I’m going to school in front of you.”

This informs his work on Echo:

“When I got to issue three [of Echo], the same thing happened as with issues 3,4, and 5 of SiP. I started liking the characters, and started droping hints about Katchoo and her past. For SiP, I would think: someday I’ll have to make good on all this stuff. Now I’m feeling the same about Echo–lots of open ended plotlines, but this time I know where they’re going. I’ve got outlines for the first 18 issues.”

“Humberto Ramos is drawing Runaways… it’s best looking comic I’ve ever seen. He’s talented normally, but this guy is really super into this book; he’s loving it, and he’s at the top of his game. If you’re a Runaways fan, you’re used to the previous look on the book. But this is just goregeous. The action leaps off the page. I try to give him a lot of unique things to draw. I mean, if you can photograph something, why bother putting it in comics? I try to give him the really fantastic stuff to draw. Humberto nails that.”

On the possibilty of Strangers in Paradise omnibus:

“We’d have to make at least two, maybe three [volumes], like Calvin and Hobbes. I may not be able to get a printer to do it, I may have to get Samsonite to do it. We can put wheels and handles on it….”

Some advice for aspiring creators:

Anyone who’s familiar with Moore’s work knows that music plays a big part in his work. He talked a bit about what get’s him going, musically: